


Polarized

by goldtracing



Series: the arcane under the obvious [5]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Character Study, Introspection, Modern Day Empire, Other, Power Dynamics, Power Imbalance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:46:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28718286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldtracing/pseuds/goldtracing
Summary: America lived in extremes. He had grown up to be that way.
Relationships: America & Other Nations (Hetalia)
Series: the arcane under the obvious [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2061180
Kudos: 13





	Polarized

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文-普通话 國語 available: [兩極](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29061972) by [Ellianerst](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellianerst/pseuds/Ellianerst)



> “Do not be disingenuous with me, Colonel Graff. Americans are quite apt at playing stupid when they choose to, but I am not to be deceived. You know why I am here.”
> 
> – General Pace, Enders Game

America lived in extremes.

Somehow, it had always been that way, from the moment when he had been born, when the Mayflower landed on the shores that fateful day. Alfred had been moulded by the Puritans. Later he could see where Calvinism had shaped him into the superpower he had become, how his thought passages could be traced back to their piousness and their ideals.

That were his roots were. Those first European settlers had taught him the lines between good and evil were clear cut, that only piety to the lord could absolve him from his sin. They had taught him that the Almighty was omnipresent and omnipotent, yet his ways remained mysterious – that he therefor had to toil and work to appease him. So, Alfred abided, and he did so, he even did so in the present day.

With his upbringing, it had been so easy to entrench himself in a set of beliefs to the point of dogma, an iron grip on a set of morals sometimes proved to be a life line on the harsh American continent, other times it was a set of blindfolds that prevented him from progressing and from excepting new truths.

It also often hindered him from acknowledging that the answers weren’t always simple and that it was often many perspectives that contributed to giving the whole picture. Why should he, when it was just so much easier to dive in the extremes and clad himself with their colours? Why should he, when admitting that the hero wasn’t a pure angel was so hard, when confessing that the shining city on the hill was treaded with dark, polluted veins? The pursuit for the absolute truth so often lead people on the road to dogma.

_They said he was a sore loser, that he never liked to admit when he was wrong. Yet what had they done, those old coot in Europe, then run the world to ruin. They raged that the world was foul and still they couldn’t see past the ends of their own noses. He, unlike them, possessed vision and insight – the land of the free and the home of the brave, from sea to shining sea, a most glorious empire of liberty. They only could be wrong when they didn’t stand with him._

America lived in extremes.

There were always many reasons to that, other colours that made up the portrait. All the immigrants that he constituted of, the life blood in his veins that brought innovation and fresh ideas.

_Farmers from Ireland, ex-slaves of African descent, workers from China and clergy from England, along with South Americans crossing the border in search to fulfil their dreams, and so many more. All of them seeking a new and brilliant life within his borders – their personal American dream. Some failing miserably, having their hopes trampled upon and being made to live in squalor. Other skyrocketing to success and enjoying the high life._

_Many bring fresh wind in his sails with their foreign tastes and ideas, mingling with others that weren’t like them. Horizons expanding in due course of encountering the unfamiliar and becoming intensely familiar with it and personal growth being stimulated._

_Others opting to group together with what they were familiar with, choosing to seclude themselves from the rest of the world. To entrench themselves in their believes and stagnate in them, as their world views went unchallenged. It was often ironic how those that proposed themselves as open-minded and gracious could be the exact opposite._

America lived in extremes.

Maybe that was the result of a fast-paced, profit orientated society. America was always on the look-out for something new that could blow his mind, no matter of utterly weird it was. The bigger the better, the more vibrant the more eye-catching, the more innovative the more attention grabbing. It was a rats race on its own – the completion to be the new sensation that would have the world in awe.

It was his addiction. Thousands of things being presented every day, juxtaposing against each other and many times contrasting instead of complimenting each other, yet all of them promising to revolutionize a person’s life for the better. Blatant lies mixed with truths, until it became a jungle that he got lost in.

America lived in extremes.

It was even true when it came to his personality.

He walked around with exuberance, chatting with people where ever he went, easily engaging in small talk. Yet he never completely revealed who he was – he never completely trusted a person, never made himself fully vulnerable to another. If anything, he preferred keep his secrets to himself, to guard them.

The rest of the world saw him as stupid, yet most of it was a fabricated lie. He played the part of the jester, wilfully letting idiocies tumble from his lips and ignoring the emotions of others and their snide comments. All the while, Alfred Jones played the puppet master, manipulating events and people to his liking.

The razor-sharp intelligence that was hidden by a goofy smile pushed his pieces across the chess board, that that his pawns were real people and communities and his board the world. More often than not other nations willingly emulated him and strived to live up to his standards, soft power playing in his favour even when he wasn’t actively trying. It made it all the simpler to fine tune another country to his liking.

America constantly claimed that he was humble and that was true. He could be kind, generous, gracious, so willing to lend a help hand and give up time and money to help other. However, that didn’t cancel out the greed that still inhabited him, the lust for more control over the world and all it had to other. The ambition that burned in his veins pushed him forward, made him hungry for power – a hunger that very could be really stated. And America doubted that would ever really change.


End file.
